Love Revolution Applications Open If your congregation would like to be part of Love Revolution’s second cohort, complete an application by April 30, 2026. NEW! Informational Meeting An informational Zoom meeting about Love Revolution is scheduled for Tuesday, February 17 at 7:00 pm. (This is the correct date!) You can REGISTER here.

October 8, 2025 A Letter from Bishops of the ELCA to the Church Beloved in Christ, Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), we write to you in this moment of national and global tension with clarity and conviction. Our faith compels us to stand where Jesus stands—with and for those whom society often seeks to exclude, erase, or diminish. Our shared confession that every person is

Dear Friends in Christ, Did you know that Clergy Appreciation Month has its roots all the way back in Paul’s letters to the early church? Paul encouraged believers not to grow weary in their ministry, and that same spirit of encouragement continues today through Clergy Appreciation Month. Gaining momentum in the 1990s (thanks in large part to Focus on the Family), October is now a time to recognize and appreciate our pastors, deacons, mission developers, musicians, Christian

Dear Friends in Christ, As we enter November, many of our congregations celebrate the Feast of All Saints—a time rich in tradition across our synod. Some congregations honor the saints who have died in the past year by reading their names, tolling bells, lighting candles, or pausing in silence to remember those we’ve loved and lost. As a pastor, I always found this to be a deeply meaningful practice that connected me to the lives we touch through the church’s ministries. It

December 11, 2025 Dear Beloved in Christ, December often feels like a whirlwind in the church. The steady progression from Advent to Christmas overlays the festive chaos of the secular holiday season, making this time especially busy. Those who’ve worked with me over the years know that I’m a “special kind of crazy” when it comes to preparing for Christmas Eve worship. Why? Because I take the hymn People, Look East to heart: “People, look east. The time is near Of the crowni

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman Dear SEPA Family and Friends, Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I am writing to share some important updates about staffing changes within our Synod. When I began my term as bishop this past September, I committed to holding off on staffing changes until after February 1. Now, the time has come to make some shifts to our staff configuration, aligning our resources and team to better equip our

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman February 14, 2025 Beloved Siblings in Christ, As we enter the month of February, love is everywhere. Stores are filled with Valentine’s Day cards, roses, and heart-shaped chocolates. We see love celebrated in many forms—romantic love, familial love, and even the brotherly love that gives our great city of Philadelphia its name (and fuels our passion for the Eagles—Go Birds!). But the love that Scripture calls us

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman March 17, 2025 The Feast of St. Patrick March is here, and for many, that means college basketball. But I know that for most of you, this season brings a different kind of March Madness—the busyness of Lent. And at the synod office, our version of March Madness is the flurry of preparations for our annual Synod Assembly in May. By now, most congregations have elected their voting members, and registration is off

Fearful, Yet Overjoyed. The Women at the Tomb By Sister Mary Stevens, CRSS FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP An Easter Message from Bishop Bryan Penman April 19, 2025 The Vigil of Easter “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” – Luke 24:11 Dear Beloved in Christ, On the first day of the week, as the sun rose, a group of women went to the tomb—not to celebrate resurrection, but to carry out the rituals of grief. They were expecting death. Wh

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman Dear Siblings in Christ, It’s graduation season—a time when we gather to celebrate years of hard work, study, and perseverance. Degrees are conferred, papers submitted, exams passed, and dissertations defended. If you’re celebrating a 2025 graduate in your family, congratulations! For many, this moment is the culmination of not just individual effort but the support of an entire village. Graduation is also a sea

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman Dear beloved siblings in Christ, This month we find ourselves at the intersection of solemn remembrance and sacred possibility. On June 17, we mark the commemoration of the Emmanuel Nine—faithful saints gunned down during Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Just two days later, we celebrate Juneteenth, the day when the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, final

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman I am writing today to apologize and clarify my June Bishop Message which was published on June 16, 2025. First, I ask your forgiveness for what was an oversight on my part. While I was attempting to raise awareness around the process the ELCA uses to elect bishops, my message instead caused pain and misunderstanding. Please hear me clearly, I believe the New Jersey Synod raised up by the working of the Holy Spir

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman Dear Beloved in Christ, It’s the middle of summer, and for many congregations, this is the time of the so-called “summer slump.” Worship attendance dips. Budgets tighten. Things feel quieter. But what if this season is not a slump at all—what if it’s an invitation? Too often, our churches have been trained to look wide—counting the number of people in the pews or the size of our offerings. We get stuck in the

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman Dear Beloved in Christ, As August arrives, the air begins to shift ever so slightly—school supplies fill store shelves, calendars get updated with new schedules and families prepare to return to more regular rhythms of daily life. There’s something about this season that invites reflection. A turning of the page. A beginning again. In the church, we mark our beginnings at the waters of Baptism. Whether we were s

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman Dear Beloved in Christ, September is always a season of change. The air turns crisp, school doors open, routines shift, and the long days of summer give way to the colors of autumn. The world around us reminds us that change is constant—sometimes gentle, sometimes disruptive, but always present. Change can be hard. Our church knows this well. We are living in a time when we are being called into new ways of bein

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE BISHOP A Message from Bishop Bryan Penman Dear Beloved Siblings in Christ, October is recognized as Rostered Minister Appreciation Month, a time to pause and give thanks for the pastors and deacons who walk with us in faith — proclaiming good news, tending souls, and leading communities of hope in a weary world. We are living through trying times. The noise of our culture too often leans toward fear and violence rather than peace and mercy. In the midst